My client wants to do an iPhone app because she's found that people are significantly more likely to use the iPhone app over a mobile optimized site. The iPhone app is very simple - it just displays a couple images and some text. As a programmer I'd much rather do a mobile site given the simple nature of the content. From a technical perspective I feel that it's overkill to use an iPhone app in this situation.

Does it make sense to build an iPhone app when a mobile site would suffice, simply because your users would much rather it be an iPhone app? Is there anyway to easily convince users that a mobile site is just as easy to use?

If the app is that simple, you should do both: you will have fun, and your client will be happy.
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dasblinkenlightOct 22 '12 at 2:59

2

You seem to be putting your own needs above those of your users.
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CalebOct 22 '12 at 3:11

9

"Does it make sense to build an iPhone when a mobile site would suffice, simply because your users would much rather it be an iPhone app?" - simply because? You have your logic backwards.
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GrandmasterBOct 22 '12 at 3:17

3

This seems like a poll question. Furthermore the correct answer is pretty clear, do what your client wants, who cares if its "overkill" if your client has a valid reason it shouldn't matter.
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RamhoundOct 22 '12 at 12:50

So basically you are just creating an HTML5 web application, and then telling/showing the user how to associate an icon with it?
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Robert HarveyOct 22 '12 at 2:57

Or just an HTML (any version) page. The key is instructing iOS to run full-screen Safari, and specify icons in the HEAD section. AFAIK a user can't choose their own icon to use.
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Kirk BroadhurstOct 22 '12 at 3:31

7

-1 Web apps are far from "cross platform" from usability standpoint. You can create iPhone-like web app, but such app will be like sore thumb on Android and Windows Phone.
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EuphoricOct 22 '12 at 5:45

4

@Euphoric you might want to apply a different style sheet according to the platform, but you don't need to. Compare with trying to install an iOS app onto your Windows Phone and you'll find that web apps are one of the most cross-platform techniques available.
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Kirk BroadhurstOct 22 '12 at 6:27

+1 You aren't building an application, you are building a website(from the sound of it). So it should be a website, not an application. It shouldn't even be referred to as web app, don't say HTML5. It's just a mobile website (images and text).
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MobyDOct 22 '12 at 16:12

Given your problem description I'd go for a mobile site masked as an app.
In general, many mobile apps are just HTML5 sites that may or may not run locally. This can be a great start to quickly develop a multi platform app which will work reasonably OK on many types of mobile devices without having to rework much of the code. Having said this, there is one caveat: HTML5 isn't the king of speed when doing heavy duty stuff. When it is time to do some processing intensive code which isn't available as some piece of middleware for the platform(s) you're developing for, the code can run rather slow if you depend solely on JavaScript to do the processing and you should consider taking it to the next level (Native app).